Vapor-heating system



.No. 623,7I5. Patented Apr. 25,1899

P. J. HENDERSON. V.

VAPOR HEATING SYSTEM.

, {Application filed Nov. 8, 1898.) 4 (No Model.) 2 Shasta-Sheet I.

m. 623,7]5. Patefited Apr. 25,1899. P..J. usnnsnsou.

VAPOR HEATING SYSTEM.

(Application filed. Nov. 8, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

llwtrn PLUMMER J. HENDERSON, OF ROCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

VAPOR-HEAT|NG SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,715, dated April 25, 1899.

Application filed November 8, 1898. Serial No. 695,848. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, PLUMMER J. HENDER- SON, of Rochester, in the county of Strafford and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vapor-Heating Systems, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has for its object to provide a heating apparatus adapted to be made efficient by the generation of low-tension or wet steam and which shall utilize to the maximum extent the heat units absorbed in the generation of the steam or vapor and shall require a consumption of a minimum amount of fuel; and to these ends the invention consists of an apparatus embodying certain features of construction and relative arrangement of parts, as illustrated in the drawings, described in the following specification, and pointed out with particularity in the claims hereunto appended.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 represents one form of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the heater. Fig. 3 represents an enlarged view of the heater, the headers, and the various parts connected to the heater.

Referring to the drawings, (1 indicates a generator, which may be of any suitable construction and has a dome cfor the reception of the steam or vapor generated and a suitable water-gage a. I prefer to make the dome in the form of a separate casing or header connected with the heater by the pipe 1), although the particular construction of the generator itself is not material to my invention.

f f represent radiators connected with the dome c by supply-pipes e e, said pipes entering the lower portions of the radiators, and g g represent air-vents in the upper portions of the radiators. These vents are continuously open when the steam supplied is at such a low tension or pressure and temperature that substantially all the vapor and all the particles of water which enter the radiators mechanically suspended are condensed or precipitated in the radiators, and therefore do not escape through the air-vents. I prefer, however, to provide for the closing of the vents by an increase of temperature due to the presence of high-pressuresteam in the radiators. To this end the vents gg may be automatic valves, such as are in common use in connection with steam-radiators.

h h represent return-pipes which'are separate from the supply-pipes and which connect the radiators with a return-waterreceptacle or header 70, located above the waterline of the heater, said line being indicated at w. A pipe connects the header 7a with the lower portion of the heater below the water-line. The header 7c is provided with an automatic vent Z, which is intended to operate like the radiator-valves g g and may be of the same construction, the vent or valve 1 being necessarily above the water-line and above the header k.

The apparatus is intended to be operated by the use of a relatively small quantity of fuel, so that only low-tension or wet steam containing a large proportion of particles of water held in mechanical suspension will be generated. This will pass continuously from the dome through the supply-pipes e c and radiators f f, the air in said pipes and radiators escaping through the open vents g g, which, as above stated, are in the upper portions of the radiators, so that the low-tension steam or vapor is enabled to readily expel the air from the radiators. The steam condenses in the radiators, and the water of condensation passes therefrom through the returnpipes h h to the header 7c, the air in said pipes and header escaping through the open vent l,-so that the water returns freely and c011- tinuously to the heater, and is not entrapped and obstructed by air as it would be likely to be if the vent Z were not provided.

I find that'in practice there is no appreciable escape of low-tension steam or vapor through the open vents g g and Z when the apparatus is operated as above stated.

I prefer to provide the return-pipes h h with check-valves j j of ordinary construction, adapted to yield to the pressure of the return water fiowing'through said pipes and to be closed and obstruct said pipes in case hi gh-pressure steam is generated in the heater,

' thus preventing back pressure of steam in the pipes 72, h, the check-valves yielding from time to time when the accumulation of return water above them in the pipes h 7t is sufficient to overcome the steam-pressure.

It will be seen that the valves 9 g andl will close automatically to prevent the escape of hi gh-pressu re steam from the radiators and from the header 7c in case such steam is accidentally generated by the heater.

To prevent obstruction to the free passage of the low-tension steam or vapor through the supply-pipes c e, I provide drainage or drip pipes i t, which connect the supply-pipes c c with the water-space of the boiler, so that said supply-pipes are kept free from any accumulation of water, thus enabling the apparatus to be run with steam or vapor at a tension or pressure not higher than is sufficient to cause it to rise to the radiator, no steam -p'ressure being required to free the supply-pi1 )es from water. Said pipes i i are provided with cheek-valvesj I prefer to conduct the relatively hot water of condensation that forms in the supplypipes c 6 back to the heater by independent means, so that it will not enter the header 70. To this end I provide a separate header m, which is arranged above the water-line of the heater and is connected independently with the heater by a pipe on. The header m is connected with the drainage or return pipes 11 t" and receives the relatively hot water of condensation from the supply-pipes e e. The header m has an automatic vent or valve Z, adapted to operate like the valves 9 g and I.

It will be seen that a supply-pipe, a radiator having an automatic valve in its upper portion, a return-pipe, and a header connected with the return-pipe and with the water-space of the boiler and having also an automatic valve, the latter being above the water-line, constitute a vapor-circulating and water-returning conduit system, from the upper portion of which air escapes freely to permit the free upward movement of low-tension steam or vapor and the particles of water suspended therein into and through the radiators, and from the lower portion of which air escapes freely above the water-line of the heater to permit the free and unobstructed return of the water of condensation to the heater.

The pipes c e are controlled by cut-off valves (Z (l', which I prefer to locate quite near to the dome c.

For convenience I may provide each valve with a long shank (l extending through the floor above the furnace, so that the heat may be shut off without the necessity of going downstairs.

To secure an automatic regulation of the fire without causing a high steam-pressure in the system, I provide the damper with a regulator 11,, which is located below the waterline of the heater and operated by the expansion and contraction of the water. The regulater is connected by a branch pipe 9 with the gage-pipe W, said pipe having a pressuregage a The lever 0 is raised and lowered according to the expansion and contraction of the water in the heater and in the regulator and is connected by a chain 0' with the damper 0 a weight 0 being employedto put the regulator into exact equilibrium with the damper open. By this arrangement the damper is shifted upon the fire becoming too hot before sufficient steamis generated to even move the regulator in the gage to the first graduation in the gage-scale, and when the fire becomes too low the damper is then opened and the fire is allowed to burn up.

When the steam is generated, it passes from the dome or header through the supplypipes into the radiators, the pressure being sufficient to expel the air from the latter, and the steam is condensed and returns to the header 7.: at a relatively low temperature. The automatic vent l remains open, whereby the pressure in the system is substantially that of the atmosphere, especially as the automatic damper maintains the fire in the desired condition, so as not to cause an excess of pressure. The drip or drainage passes back to the boiler in separate pipes and does not retard the vapor or steam, being ordinarily at a pressure a little below that of the steam or vapor, but much higher than that of the water of condensation in the returnpipes from the radiators. Consequently by this arrangement the system is never closed, so as to increase the steam-pressure, even when the damper is being shifted to shut oif the draft,as it would be were the drip or drainage from the supply-pipes allowed to return through the drip-pipes, for in that case the steam and Vapor arising from the drainage or drip would cause the closing of the automatic valve or vent and an increase in pressure. Therefore the working of the apparatus is never interfered with, and the water of condensation is not obstructed by air in the pipes, whereby the apparatus is entirely noiseless in its operation.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without having attempted to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim is 1. A heating apparatus comprising a vaporgenerator, a damper-regulator below the water-line in the generator and controlled by the expansion of water in the generator, and a circulating system connected with the generator and including a radiator, a supply-pipe, a return-pipe, and an automatic air-vent in the return-pipe whereby the pressure in said system is substantially atmospheric, and said apparatus may be made efficient by the generation of a low-pressure steam or vapor.

2. A heating apparatus comprising a vaporgenerator, a damper-regulator below the water-line in the generator and controlled by the expansion of water in the generator, and a circulating system connected with the generator and including a radiator, a supply-pipe, a return-pipe, an automatic air-vent in the return-pipe to keep the pressure in the system substantially atmospheric, and a separate return-pipe for the drip or drainage from the supply-pipe.

3. A heating apparatus comprising a vaporgenerator, a damper-regulator below the water-line in the generator and controlled by the expansionpf water in the generator, and a circulating system connected with the generator and including a radiator, a supply-pipe, a return-pipe, an automatic air-vent in the return-pipe to keep the pressure in the system substantially atmospheric, a separate return-pipe for the drip or drainage from the supply-pipe and an automatic air-Ventin the drainage-pipe.

4. A heating apparatus comprising a vaporgenerator, a damper-regulator below the Water-line in the generator and controlled by the expansion of water in the generator, and a circulating system connected with the generator and including a radiator, a supply-pipe connecting the dome of the-generator with the radiator, two headers located above the Water-line and connected independently with the generator, and each having an automatic air-Vent, two separate return-pipes, one connecting one of the headers with the supplypipe, and the other with the radiator, whereby one header receives the drip or drainage from the supply-pipe and the latter is kept free from water of condensation for the passage of low-tension steam or vapor, while the other header receives the water of condensation from the radiator.

5. Aheating apparatus comprising a generator having a suitable dome, a damper-regulator controlled by the expansion of water and located below the water-line of the generator, a plurality of radiators, a supplypipe connecting each radiator with the dome, a plurality of return-pipes leading from said radiators, a header above the Water-line into which said return pipes lead, said header communicating with the generator, a pipe for conducting the drip or drainage from each of the supply-pipes, a second header'above the water-line into which the drainage-pipes lead, said second header also communicating with the generator, and an automatic air-vent in the said second header.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PLUMMER J. HENDERSON.

\Vitnesses:

' Gno. P. FURBUsH,

SAMUEL F. FELKER. 

